As more and more traditional companies leverage the benefits of the cloud, it’s no real surprise that the healthcare industry has embraced technology, with electronic health records now commonplace. We have provided a cloud-based solution for clinical and practice management software since 2012 and the adoption rate among Australian healthcare practices and clinics grows each year.

Cloud for Health allows users of popular clinical software packages (such as Medical Director and Best Practice) to access data from anywhere by simply using their web browsers on any internet-ready device. It allows users to concentrate on core activities without worry about servers, backup maintenance or essential security updates as we take care of all that under our service level agreement(SLA).

Other advantages include guaranteed data storage on Australian servers (also a legal requirement) and immediate access to an ideal solution for rural GPs that often need to travel long distances between clinics, allowing the easy use of mobile clinics, taking the practice on tour, so to speak.

Doctors located in the middle of the desert can access their clinic records remotely, simply by using a laptop and phone, tethering the laptop to a 3G or 4G connection if available. Alternatively, you can simply use a smartphone , netbook or other portable device with a browser. In times past, you would have needed to log in directly to your practice, with low speed often the result. Not so with the cloud, as maximum performance is always available.

As the whole process is browser-based, it’s no longer necessary to have a high-performance laptop for productive tasks. Even older laptops will work perfectly as long as an internet connection is available.

Not all healthcare professionals require mobility but cloud hosting has other advantages:

You no longer need a server and can eliminate associated hardware costs and maintenance issues.

24/7 maintenance and support is offered by reputable service providers

Software patches and security updates are handled by the service provider

Our aim as a service provide is to remove IT as a consideration for healthcare professionals and let them focus on patient care. Even in extreme situations where all hardware in the practice has failed (due to power loss, fire or water damage, for example) vital clinical data can still be accessed using a mobile phone. The benefit to business continuity is obvious.

The majority of clinical software is designed for use with Microsoft Windows, with Mac users often experiencing problems. However, by use of a Citrix Desktop Viewer, the platform does not matter as everything is viewed in a standard browser, regardless of whether the user is on Windows, Android, iOS or MacOS.

Coming from a family of doctors, I originally considered offering a free service to make the lives of healthcare professionals easier by allowing them to focus on patient care. However, I decided to implement a licence fee structure, given the variety of experts, hardware and hosting requirements necessary to provide a reliable service. It is true that ‘you get what you pay for’ and a free service would have compromised features and defeated my original goals.

The licence fee structure works well and is cost-effective, regardless of the size of the practice, given the backup protection and risk managements solutions that are immediately solved. In addition, we perform a full IT and business process audit to maximise the investment, ensuring that all systems are configured correctly.

While some are still reluctant to move to the cloud, due to perceive security issues, I believe these concerns to be ill-founded, especially when you consider that cloud service providers are held to a higher standard than traditional networks. We are subject to regular third party audits that we cannot avoid if we are to retain our IT and industry certification status. By achieving these standards, we publicly confirm that we exercise due diligence in security, data storage and internal disaster recover processes.

Therefore, we can offer a complete IT solution with confidence, whether it’s on the cloud, onsite or a combination of both. Eliminate your IT concerns and focus on your business. Contact us for further details.